The 2021 world champion anticipated a tougher weekend at Phillip Island a week on from his podium return at the Indonesian GP.
But Quartararo could only manage 17th after Friday’s running with a 1m28.937s, having ended last year’s second practice at Phillip Island in fourth with a 1m29.6s lap.
This has left Quartararo completely baffled, with the Frenchman admitting he has “no chance” of progressing into Q2 on Saturday morning in qualifying.
Asked where he is struggling, he said: “Our bike is getting more difficult to turn every year.
“I think we lose a lot from 2019 to now. That was our strong point, now it’s clearly our weak point.
“That’s the only thing we really had, and you can clearly see… I am one second away from the top guys, my team-mate is also struggling… really difficult to understand what is happening right now.
“Much worse [than last year]. Last year I qualified P5, two tenths off, but every day last year we improved a lot because the conditions improved.